as in shrimp
a person of no importance or influence
the magazine's editor in chief was notorious for treating staffers as insects, often not even bothering to learn their names
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of insects
Researchers closely studied how thrips respond to temperature, simulating cold and heat exposures to see how long the insects could survive.
—
Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 27 Jan. 2026
Elephants regularly take dust baths to rid their hides of insects and irritation.
—Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026
All of a sudden, this idea just popped into my head to put the film in the future, with no human beings left, and hardly any animal life, basically only insects.
—Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 26 Jan. 2026
Chirring insects, cool eels, darting dice snakes in the Volga delta.
—Literary Hub, 23 Jan. 2026
They're classified as hexapods and are more closely related to crustaceans rather than insects, despite their appearance.
—Cailey Gleeson, jsonline.com, 23 Jan. 2026
Specifically, the researchers point to octopuses and certain insects that use their finger-like limbs to move around and manipulate objects in their environments at the same time.
—Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 22 Jan. 2026
Birds who feed on the insects leave behind seeds that grow into trees that then form ecosystems for red lechwe antelope to graze and roam.
—Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Jan. 2026
Pay attention to what kinds of insects are attending to them.
—Malaka Gharib, NPR, 14 Mar. 2025
Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 27 Jan. 2026
Elephants regularly take dust baths to rid their hides of insects and irritation.
—Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026
All of a sudden, this idea just popped into my head to put the film in the future, with no human beings left, and hardly any animal life, basically only insects.
—Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 26 Jan. 2026
Chirring insects, cool eels, darting dice snakes in the Volga delta.
—Literary Hub, 23 Jan. 2026
They're classified as hexapods and are more closely related to crustaceans rather than insects, despite their appearance.
—Cailey Gleeson, jsonline.com, 23 Jan. 2026
Specifically, the researchers point to octopuses and certain insects that use their finger-like limbs to move around and manipulate objects in their environments at the same time.
—Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 22 Jan. 2026
Birds who feed on the insects leave behind seeds that grow into trees that then form ecosystems for red lechwe antelope to graze and roam.
—Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Jan. 2026
Pay attention to what kinds of insects are attending to them.
—Malaka Gharib, NPR, 14 Mar. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insects
Noun
-
The Blind Owl is extremely dense, brimming with metaphors and ciphers and symbols.—
Amir Ahmadi Arian,
The Dial,
15 Jan. 2026
-
Like Dostoyevsky, Capote doesn’t portray his killers as demonic ciphers, instead capturing their messy complexity.—
Patrick Radden Keefe,
New Yorker,
11 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Hughes is one of the world's top lightweights in MMA, the sport where McGregor built his following and name.—
Brian Mazique,
Forbes.com,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Where else could award winning writers pop off about nothing at all, and nobodies could rattle the ivory towers?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Nov. 2025
-
Professional athletes, however, aren’t nobodies.—
Joe Kozlowski,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Plus Brock and Sindri, the gear upgrade dwarves.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
22 Jan. 2026
-
Iran has a grim history of crushing dissent, but the latest crackdown dwarfs anything seen during the repressive Islamic theocracy’s 47 years in power, evidence trickling out of Iran suggests.—
Alexander Smith,
NBC news,
16 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Insects.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insects. Accessed 29 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
